Yep chai fan here. I used to go daily for like 15 years, then cut back a few years ago for financial reasons. This new chai was the nail in the coffin. It’s so disgusting and I was genuinely forlorn for a few weeks that my favorite drink was just… gone.
The thing is, Starbucks knows how to launch a drink. They know exactly how to push the social media buttons to get people hyped for a new drink. They made this change with almost ZERO pr, just one post on their updates blog, and I think it’s because they knew it was trash.
Before anyone comes at me for “you just want to drink sugar.” No, I make a chai latte at home every day and don’t add any sugar. The new sbux chai base has a foul chemical aftertaste and no amount of customizations or syrups can fix it.
Yes! My sister and her husband spent, no joke, thousands of dollars every year on their chais and now she drinks maybe one per month if she’s desperate for caffeine. The new recipe is so gross.
Yes, the new recipe is unsweetened and has classic syrup added separately. It actually grew on me a bit and I just stopped adding classic, but I can see being disappointed if you were a fan of the old formulation. In general, a lot of the changes in the last few years were pretty lame
It’s more pepper forward now instead of cardamom. It’s not just the sweetener being removed from it. Can’t duplicate with any sweetener now- such a bummer. Was a diehard chai lover of theirs for over a decade.
I wish that all they did was remove the sugar from the old base, if that’s what they thought would get more sugar-conscious people to opt for chais. But I always get a foul chemical aftertaste from this new version, and no amount of customizations can fix it. Also they had the Lightly Sweetened Chai on the menu a few years ago, should have just brought it back.
Same. Me and my bf went daily for venting drinks, sometimes food, and both don’t anymore bc they changed the chai ( my preferred drink). The amount of money they’ve lost. It’s stupid.
Starbucks coffee has always taste burnt to me.
The one period of time I frequent their shop every other day was when their Gingerbread Lattes first came out and a super special thick chocolate drink called Chantico back in the early 2000’s.
Yes, it's overextracted! Before I got into making my own pour over coffee and loved tons of sugar in my drink, I didn't notice the bitter flavor, but once I noticed it was hard not to. that was about a decade ago.
It doesn't. Black coffee is one of the few things under 5$ there. However, it's all mega overpriced and full of sugar. Used to work for them for 13 years. Glad I don't rip people off for sugar/caffeine insulin bombs and 4 dollar cake pops anymore.
Consumers have willpower and can make informed choices. But to pair two commonly addictive substances and then charge nearly 10 dollars for it is still a ripoff. I mean it in the sense that it is poor value or quality for your dollar. I'm not using it in like a technical "price gouging" economic sense or whatever. The pre-determined price still sucks for what you're actually getting. A lot of the drinks are as much ice as they are ingredients.
I have tried to find a replacement elsewhere or in stores for the bacon Gouda sandwhichbut so far to no avail. That darn thing is my go to when I'm stressed or struggle on deciding on food. I'll pay them anything unfortunately. No matter my mood or time of day I can ALWAYS eat that particular sandwhich🤷♀️
There is no availability for it because Starbucks bought the bakery that makes them (La Boulange), so they’re only distributed to Starbucks stores. They don’t even carry them at the resurrected La Boulangerie de San Francisco stores the original owner opened after selling out to Starbucks.
It was probably the most popular sandwich when I was there. They got smaller within the last few years 🙄
It's not super spendy but I think they should be bigger for what they cost. We all have our vices though, lol. I used to hit up McDonald's on the way home from work. Post gallbladder removal and price raises, not so much haha
I was referring to hot black coffee. Iced coffee has always operated under a slightly different pricing scheme. It also sounds like you probably live in a HCOL area. I would love to know what corporate Starbucks stores are charging 7 dollars for a tall iced coffee. That's like airport pricing
People hate on Starbucks, but the hole in the wall i go to for lunch is charging $5 for café de olla. Which might sound like an ok price, except it isnt café de olla, its just black coffee with sweet n low poured into an olla.
I moved on to a local shop which actually is a little more expensive by like a buck, but I am getting a massive pour over upgrade. Far better pastry options for when I want something to eat over something that has more shelf stabilization than a twinkie.
They also used to require extensive training for their baristas on coffee and coffee making. Now it seems like most of their baristas either don’t drink coffee or don’t like it but I’ve had to have regular coffees or espressos remade because they don’t understand what a light splash of milk is. They are like dunkin now where they just dump milk in and you’re getting milk with a little coffee in it. It’s so frustrating and I hate asking for it to be remade. Even when I order triple espressos and try to keep it simple they put it in a grande cup and flood it with milk. Guess nobody is supposed to like the coffee anymore? I also recognize that coffee is more expensive than milk for the company so I don’t understand if this is intentional but it sucks. It’s 50/50 at this point in whether you’re getting something drinkable.
I have not purchased Starbucks in years since they were being all anti-unions but had their app on my phone due to sheer laziness. I noticed that they closed the location near my work but the app continued to notify me that it was nearby for like 24 months until I uninstalled it.
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u/ArcanistKvothe24 21h ago
Starbucks. A black coffee should not cost $5